Greetings, gentlemen! :waving It's been ages, but I'm still finding old rusty stuff. Here are three on a farm near Tulelake, CA. A very nice Chevy and an International, but the treasure, for me, is the early 1940s Studebaker US-6 in front. That one has some serious skeletons in its closet. Thousands of them were shipped to the USSR during WWII as part of our Lend-Lease agreement with them. Many of them were put to use by Stalin to help transport his millions of "enemies of the people" from prisoner trains to the sites of Gulag camps throughout the USSR. Once there, prisoners starved, froze or were worked to death within months. (Enough survived to tell the tale and to write books about their experience in Hell.) The worst of the Gulags were in the Russian Far East, location of gold and uranium mines. A few of these US-6s stayed behind in the US, and the one below was probably bought at a military surplus auction. Over the last couple of years I've read several books on the history of the USSR, the Gulags and the Lend-Lease program. When I saw this, my first thought was, "military." It wasn't until a photography friend ID'd it that I learned what these trucks had been up to. There are still lots of them in use in the hinterlands of Russia. In fact, I recently saw one on Google Street View, parked behind someone's shanty in a small town in eastern Russia. It really did give me a chill. So...that's my Studebaker US-6 story. Studebaker US-6 and the Lend-Lease Act: http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=703
Nice find Diane!! Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, nice bit of background research, too. Good to see you back on here.
Wow, I don't find them rusty. I think they are well preserved. I find more rust on my 2008 Chevy here. Glad to see your back Diane Marie. Thanks for the explanation on the Studebaker.
Back in the 70s I worked for a girlfriends father (dryland wheat farmer) that had 2 of those Studebakers still in OD paint, purchased by his father as milsurp at the time. They were 4x4 not 6x6 with 16 foot grain boxes, slow, hot, and heavy steering.We used them and a couple other trucks (like a '41 Ford ) to haul to the 3 miles to the nearest grain elevator til it was full. then the big semis came out to run to the Snake river. One was a '56 KW cabover and the other was a '58 Peterbilt, both had the old 220 Cummins and twin sticks... those were the good old days. I bet those old trucks are still sitting in the weeds.
Thanks very much, Steve, Mitch, old-iron and RZucker! RZ, I enjoyed your personal story!
Hi Diane! I've read some books about the Gulag. Henry Ford sent quite a few Engineers etc to build the first automobiles made in Russia (think it was the Model T) They produced Fourty some cars and wanted to have a Parade in Moscow. They couldn't find 40 people that knew how to drive (stick LoL) Then the purges started which made Hitler look like a choir boy.
So the Model T, The motorized biplane (airplane ) and Even the Bicycle were Kinda invented around the same time. After the railroad was invented. No bikes because there were no roads (or assembly lines )
So the Autocar and Aeroplane were manufactured Around the same. ...time. People there' Justifiably assumed that.... If you could drive a car. ...You we're a Mechanic (of Course! ) An Aeroplane has a MOTOR ...... They assumed he was a Pilot.
In other words people there assumed that if you could drive a car you can fly a plane. And if it had a Motor you were a MECHANIC. ... (pilot )
......so don't hide your Light under a basket effo......tell us what happened
Yes, and some of those industrial engineers and a few thousand other Americans ended up in the Gulag system. The Forsaken , by Tim Tzouliadis, tells about that relatively unknown part of the purge.
Thanks Dianne and thanks for visiting us!♡ While reading that particular story of one Engineer, an American I could not help but wonder if Henery Ford's personel were left over there (sold out ) by Henery?
Diane, I was just reading about your avatar... When I was a kid (a million years ago) my family had relatives in North Idaho and I remember seeing many a "teepee" sawdust burner glowing red in the night. Had a friend that worked at a mill and he said they got carried away one night and collapsed theirs from overheating it... OOPS.
Dorris-I remember that teepee-lol Truck Shop
Thanks fixou812, RZucker and Truck Shop, sorry I didn't see your comments until now! Can anyone ID this one, it's giving me a lot of trouble: For scale... On a ranch, Newell, California (near Tulelake). I'm guessing early-mid '40s. Someone suggested Peterbilt, which looks close except for details like the style of louvers on the side of the hood. I wouldn't be surprised if it was former military converted to farming, because this is next to the huge Japanese internment site, Camp Tule Lake. Any clues would be appreciated. I've just about worn out my image search ideas. :beatsme
Reminds me of a Brockway or maybe a FWD.
Gonna guess late forties, early fifties Federal, may be ex military or not. The front bumper kinda looks military, but probably is not original, who knows? Interesting find! Hey, one of those pictures is transposed the exhaust stack is on the wrong side! LOL
I'm thinking WW2 vintage Diamond T built for the military. But the way the military contracts were awarded, it could be a Federal, or a Sterling, or ... ? A lot of those trucks were made by various manufacturers to the same specs dictated by the DOD.
Diane Marie, I was out deer hunting in October and found another old mill with a still intact wigwam burner, it was on a side road off of hiway 226 between Trail and Tiller Oregon, again just over the hill from you. It looked like most of the old mill buildings were still in use for storage, but that was just an impression from driving by. Jim
I know, so is the steering. I reversed that one for a more pleasing collage...hey, what can I say, I post my photos on sites that are all about the art of photography! I know, what am I doing here? :duh You know, I caught a glimpse of a Federal - which I'd never heard of - and it looked promising...
Bingo! lantraxco , take a look. This came up in a round-about way searching for Federal. No mistaking that bumper. From: http://flickrhivemind.net/flickr_hvmnd.cgi?method=GET&page=1&photo_number=50&tag_mode=all&search_type=User&originput=MurrayJoe&sorting=Interestingness&photo_type=250&noform=t&search_domain=User&sort=Interestingness&textinput=MurrayJoe It's in Australia, believe it or not. And, I found a forum with a thread about these trucks in Australia + old photos. Hey, Jim , the forum owner lives in Central Point, OR! Good, another mystery solved - thanks a million, guys!
Checked that out on Google Earth and didn't see it, but will keep looking! I didn't look too much on the side-roads... By the way, the hwy between Trail and Tiller is 227. Looks like a gorgeous drive and maybe some RUSTY STUFF to take pictures of.
Truck Shop - Hard to forget, isn't it? Do you have any idea when it was built? I remember it from childhood, my dad drove by it many times on the way to and from Klamath Falls.
That's a WWII 1940 to 45 Federal and only built between 40 and 45. Truck Shop
Diane Marie, you are right, it's hiway 227. I found the wigwam burner on goggle earth. It is a short distance up the west fork of Trail creek on the left side of the road.
Now I see why there's a hump in that front bumper, there's a pintle hitch in behind there!
Yep, you are right. I mentioned Diamond T because it looked a lot like one that used to be sitting out in a field west of Pasco that looked very similar. Sadly it's gone now, It was a huge 6x4 beast with large pattern budd wheels and an old double disc Cummins under the hood with a set of huge Timken worm drive rear ends. Used to be an old Federal 6x6 up near Royal City with flat fenders and Gruss air springs on the front axle, not sure of it's history but it was one big old truck. It disappeared during the scrap iron craze.
That cab was used by Biederman, FWD, and some Diamond T military trucks during the WWII era. But the dead give away is the humped front bumper. I'm pretty sure Federal was the only one who built a military truck with that style of bumper. The Ellensburg school bus garage had one of each, a Biederman 6x6 military wrecker and a Federal military straight truck. Both were in pristine condition, Biederman trucks are very rare these days. Truck Shop